The right honourable the Earl of Cumberland, intending
to cruize against the enemy, prepared a small fleet
of four ships only[358] at his own charges, one of
which was the Victory[359] belonging to the queens
royal navy. The others were the Meg and Margaret,
two small ships, one of which was soon obliged to
be sent home as unable to endure the sea, besides
a small caravel. Having assembled about 400 men,
sailors and soldiers, with several gentlemen volunteers,
the earl and they embarked and set sail from Plymouth
Sound on the 28th June 1589, accompanied by the following
captains and gentlemen. Captain Christopher Lister,
an officer of great resolution, Captain Edward Careless,
alias Wright, who had been captain of the Hope
in Sir Francis Drakes expedition to the West Indies
against St Domingo and Carthagena; Captain Boswel,
Mr Mervin, Mr Henry Long, Mr Partridge, Mr Norton;
Mr William Monson, afterwards Sir William[360], who
was captain of the Meg and vice-admiral, and Mr Pigeon,
who was captain of the caravel.

[Footnote 358: Sir William Monson, in Churchills
collection, says there were five ships; and
indeed we find a fifth, called the Saucy Jack, mentioned
in the narrative.—­E.]

[Footnote 359: The Victory was of 800 tons, carrying
32 guns and 400 men; of whom, according to Sir William
Monson, 268 were mariners, and 100 sailors, the remaining
32 being probably soldiers, or as we now call them
marines. The distinction between mariners and
sailors is not obvious; perhaps what are now called
ordinary and able seamen,—­E.]

[Footnote 360: Sir William Monson was author
of some curious Naval Tracts, giving an account of
the Royal Navy of England in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth
and James I. which are preserved in Churchills Collection,
Vol. III. pp. 147—­508.—­E.]

About three days after our departure from Plymouth,
we met with three French ships, one of which belonged
to Newhaven[361], and another to St Maloes; and finding
them to be leaguers[362], and therefore lawful prizes,
we took them, and sent two of them home to England
with all their loading, being mostly fish from Newfoundland,
having first distributed among our ships as much of
the fish as they could find stowage room for; and
in the third ship we sent all the prisoners home to
France. On that day and the next we met some other
ships, but finding them belonging to Rotterdam and
Embden, bound for Rochelle, we dismissed them.
On the 28th and 29th, we met several of our English
ships returning from an expedition to Portugal, which
we relieved with victuals. The 13th July, being
in sight of the coast of Spain in lat. 39 deg.
N. we descried eleven ships, on which we immediately
prepared to engage them, sending the Meg commanded
by Captain Monson to ascertain what and whence they